Ben 10 Reboot Season 1
by marvelmacabre
Summary: In a more serious reboot, Ben Tennyson discovers the Omnitrix in the shop of his estranged Grandpa Max. But when a malevelont force begins to rise from underneath Bellwood, the young hero and his cousin are forced to defend their town and the universe as a whole.
1. E01 CH1

_S01E01: And Then There Were 10 - When 15yr old Ben Tennyson discovers the Omnitrix in his Grandpa Max's shop, a whole world of trouble is unleashed on him when the vengeful Dr. Animo arrives in Bellwood, intent on claimung the device as his own._

 **5 Years Ago**

 **Bauman's Bar**

 **2 miles out from Yosemite Park, California**

Bauman's Bar was a dump. Mob enforcers, tattooed up to the eyeballs, would glare threateningly at each other over pints of vodka. Scantily clad women paraded up and down the bar, leaning unnecessarily far down when serving their customer's drinks. In each corner sat a different gang, all trying to arrange hits on one another.

It was a seedy bar, but it was far from the worst establishment Max Tennyson had found himself in. He chuckled gutturally at this thought; all the men in here with their muscles and tattoos, all brandishing a bravado to anyone who would care to listen. They never gave Max a second thought, just another aging man in a Hawaiian shirt trying to have a quiet drink in a rough neighbourhood. They didn't know that Max could take them all out in a matter of seconds and still have enough energy to knock out a game of Billiards.

"I'll have what he's having," a man took the stool next to Max and nodded at the barman. Max recognised that throaty voice instantly.

"Aloysius," he said, not caring to look up from his drink.

"That's Doctor Animo to you, Tennyson," spat out the newcomer.

Max sipped his drink, slowly and deliberately. "I wouldn't expect to find you out here, Aloysius."

Animo winced at the use of his first name. He hoped Max hadn't noticed. He did.

"In a backwater town like this, I wouldn't expect to find you either, Tennyson. Funny how happen, isn't it?"

The barman strode over and slid a whisky in front of them. Animo forced his twitching hand onto the table and clasped the glass in his bony hand. It shook with the rest of his body as he raised it to his lips and took a cautious sip. Max looked at his drinking partner, a good hard look. It wasn't just the ticks that Animo had to be worried about; his skin was rotting, or at least, that's what it looked like. It was yellowing and patchy and it looked as if half of his cheek had been torn off. He had clearly tried to obscure it with his long, fraying, silver hair but even the dimly lit room could not do enough to obscure the foul sight before him

"Are you oka-"

"I'm fine!" snapped Animo. "I'm fine."

"You've got no one to blame but yourself."

"Do you not think I know that, Tennyson?" he said, half bitterly, half melancholically. "But what's done is done."

"It is." Max said, raising his glass in a mock toast.

"And the Plumbers are done, Max," he said. "I hope you've grown to understand that."

"Of course I have, Aloysius," Max tuned to face the doctor. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Animo said, waving his hand dismissively. "It's just, some of my scanners picked up some unusual readings from Yosemite Park. And then I heard rumours of a meteorite crashing down in that area. Curious, isn't it. Reminds me of the old days. I'm just hoping that you weren't sticking your nose in. You know, like you used to."

"I liked the old days," said Max. "But they were just that. The old days. When we were still young men and we had the universe at our feet."

"Ah, but we never did have the universe at our feet, Max."

"But we thought we did, and that's what matters." Max knocked back the rest of his drink and went to stand up.

"But we could have, if we'd had the Omnitrix."

Max stopped. Gingerly, he eased himself back onto his seat. "You know the Omnitrix was just an idea, don't you Animo? He never actually made it."

Animo guffawed. "Nah, he didn't. Of course he didn't. But if he did, just imagine if he did. It would have been magnificent."

"It would have been a bloodbath," said Max through gritted teeth.

"They're not incompatible notions," said Animo. The amount of pleasure he took in each word made a shiver go through Max's spine. As did the glint in his eye at the word 'bloodbath'. "But, it's all just theoretical, isn't it?"

"Indeed is it." Max nodded. "And don't you forget it."

He didn't wait for a response. Instead, Max Tennyson pushed himself up onto his feet and strode out of the bar, his hands bawled in a fist. The patrons of the bar eyed him up as he made his exit, each silently wondering to themselves what the strange old man in the Hawaiian t-shirt was doing in a dump like Bauman's. Those who had been sitting close enough to him to eavesdrop wondered what the Omnitrix was. And Doctor Animo just sat back on his stool, smirking. He was glad he had taken the time to brag before going and retrieving the Omnitrix from Yosemite Park.

In fact, Animo was so self-assured that that would be the night he would find the prize he so desperately needed, he never paid attention to the leather bag Max had been clutching as he'd left the bar. A leather bag with a bulge in its side. A bulge that was glowing bright green.

What neither Animo nor Max noticed, was perhaps far more curious. A man in a lab coat watched from a window as events unfurled. He smiled, a sad smile. His peered and his pocket watch and was stirred by what he saw. Both of the hands were almost at the number 10. That meant something interesting was about to happen. Or perhaps it already had happened. Tenses could be so confusing sometimes.

The man in the lab coat rounded a corner and disappeared in a flash of green.

And the hands both hit 10.


	2. E01 CH2

The hand hit 1.

Instantly the bell rang through the corridors, piercing every student's ears. They all scrambled together their belongings, shoving them into their bags before darting for the door. The teacher, a bespeckled old man in a tweed jacket, attempted to shout over them wishes of good will for the holiday, but not one of them was listening. It was summer. Ben Tennyson was the last one to leave. He'd tried continuously to squeeze past, but their towering, clustering bodies blocked his pathway. Even in his offensively green jacket, with the number '10' emphatically etched into it, he failed to stand out amongst his classmates.

"Have a boss summer," he shouted to his classmates as they scuttled off. None of them paid attention. "Ah, they mustn't have heard me," he thought out loud. A frown flashed on his face for the briefest of seconds, only to be quickly replaced with his usual cocksure grin.

He strut down the corridor to his locker. He was so glad school was over – six weeks without a single detention, piece of homework or lecture from Mr. Wyatt about 'how poor his work ethic is'. No, it was just Ben and the sun for six whole weeks.

He rounded the corner, only to be confronted with an unsettlingly familiar sight.

"I don't have any money left!" Cooper Daniels wailed, as he was shoved up against the locker. "I've already given it all to you."

"Bull," spat Cash, a spindly, nasty piece of work Ben had encountered far too often. "You've always got more money. I heard your folks are tech geniuses, loads of dough, so I want to see some of it."

Behind Cash stood J.T., his short-sighted worse half. The two of them had terrorised the corridors of Bellwood High School since Ben was 10. He'd learnt to avoid them in recent years, but it hadn't always worked out as planned.

Cash lurched forward, plunging his fist into Cooper's chest. He cried out in agony. J.T. scoffed. Frantically, Ben looked around – there wasn't a single teacher to be seen. They were probably celebrating a Tennyson-free summer somewhere. It was down to him. Down to Ben Tennyson.

"It's hero time," he mumbled to himself, excitedly. "Hey Cash! J.T.! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

The two half-brained bullies perked up, dropping Cooper and swooping their heads round to face their new target, like the vultures they were. Ben felt an unsettling sensation in his stomach. Maybe he shouldn't have had the curry for lunch.

"Tennyson, what a nice surprise..." Cash swaggered forward, shadowed by J.T. Neither of them noticed Cooper scarpering away, looking both relieved for himself and fearful for his saviour.

"Yeah, what a surprise," mimicked J.T., much to Cash's annoyance.

"That's what I said," he spat back. "Never mind. Thought you would have ran away from here the first minute you got, Tennyson. Turns out you're stupid as well as a good punching bag." He clenched his fists emphatically. J.T. did the same, but it wasn't nearly as menacing.

"Come on, guys," it suddenly dawned on Ben what he was getting into. He raised his fists, trying to ignore that they were quavering. "We all just want to go home now and have a good time. It's summer!"

"And for you, Tennyson," cackled Cash. "It's going to be a long one." He cracked his knuckles. Ben gulped.

"You're late, Ben," cried Gwen Tennyson, her long ginger hair tied back. That was when Ben knew she was angry.

Ben staggered through the school gates, his scruffy hair hanging over one side of his face as he dragged his rucksack behind him. The entrance was deserted, bar Ben and his cousin.

"Ben?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, great cuz," he said, a feeble smile flickering on his face. "You know how Mr. Wyatt is, just wanted one last chance to bark at me."

"Mr. Wyatt's great with me."

"Of course he is," retorted Ben. "What are you doing waiting for me?"

"Your welcome," she snorted. "And my parents and I are coming round for dinner, in case you've forgot. Start off the summer as a family."

"Oh crap, yeah," said Ben, as the two began walking. "Jeez, that's the last thing I need to start of this summer – sitting around whilst the old ones go on about taxes and jokes that aren't even funny."

"I actually like our meals," said Gwen. "You know, as long as you stay away from me, dweeb."

"Right back at you, doofus," the two of them laughed. They hadn't used such jibes seriously since they were ten. It was a friendly reminder of a simpler time.

They spent the following moments in silence, just strolling down the same road they strolled down every day. The same pavements, the same houses, the same roads, the same Bellwood. Gwen eyes flickered up, catching what was under Ben's combed down hair.

"Is that a bruise?" she gasped. "Oh no! Did Cash and J.T. beat you up again?"

"No!" Ben cried, waving his hand dismissively. "I fell over, that's all."

"Fool proof alibi there, dweeb, I don't know where you come up with them," said Gwen. Ben kept his eyes on the floor, as to avoid her sinister glare. It made him uncomfortable just knowing that she was doing it. "What happened?" she said finally.

"It was nothing," said Ben, laughing apprehensively. "You know me, Cash and J.T. We go back years. I was just talking to them after school and I slipped and bashed my face. It's really nothing cuz, so just leave it alone."

The silence that followed was audible. It was so awkward, so overwhelming, that neither of them had realised were they were.

Max's Plumbing.

Gwen was the first to notice, her eyes straying towards the decrepit site of a building. Windows were smashed in, the remnants of glass littered around the floor. Planks of wood hung over all of the entrances, rotting away unnoticed. The enlarged 'P' hung trepidatiously off of the shop's sign. It was hard to believe that their Grandpa Max ever worked there.

"Do you ever think about him?" said Gwen, drawing Ben's attention to the unwelcoming sight. He winced when he saw it. "Do you ever thing about that summer we were meant to spend together? On the road?"

"Yeah," confessed Ben. "I do."

"I miss him." Gwen said.

"So do I." sighed Ben. "So do I."


	3. E01 CH3

_Click, click, click!_

The lumbering sumo warrior plodded forward and pushed his fist forward. His enemy, another sumo warrior, braced himself for impact but too late. His health diminished, he retreated back. But this was no match for the attacker, who leapt into the air and, with a garbled cry, slammed his body into the fleeing fighter. His health already low, it now plummeted. And he fell to the floor, defeated.

 _VICTORY!_

Ben chucked his controller down onto his bed. The virtual arena faded away to a loading screen, backed with a cheesy Chinese chant. Usually a video game with excessive and over the top violence would have been enough to keep Ben happy. But today. Today he felt empty.

For the briefest of moments, he would forget about Grandpa Max. Those moments were brief and precious. But then the pain of happiness would return. The jolly old man who was always there for them, no matter what. The man who was always ready to take them out on adventures, to see and experience new things. The man who was there. Emphasis on 'was'.

"Ben, are you okay?"

"Ah!" Ben cried. Suddenly a slit of light and a perky voice had intruded on his sanctity of darkness.

"Jeez, Ben," giggled Gwen, now stepping fully into his room. "Scared easily, much?"

"Dweeb, much?" he retorted rapidly. Too rapidly to realise how stupid the insult was.

Gwen eyed up the TV. "Are you playing Sumo Slammers?" she raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that game for kids?"

"I'll have you know," said Ben, waggling his finger. "It has a big adult fan base in Japan!"

Gwen snorted. "Never mind, I'll save these insult for another day. The adults wants you downstairs, tea's ready." With that she turned her back and left the room, masking a smirk.

"It is not a kid's game," muttered Ben under his breath, as he reluctantly clambered to his feet and shuffled downstairs. "It's, it's not!"

He took every moment he had walking down those stairs. He knew how these meals usually went. Chatting about boring adult stuff, anecdotes about a forgotten time and the jokes, oh the jokes…

"And then he said, why don't you put the trousers on the donkey! Eh, eh?" Gwen's Dad's joke was, unsurprisingly, met with cackles and applause.

Ben was in for a long night.

"Oh, hi champ!" Ben's Dad chirped up, waving over his son. "Take a seat with the ol' grown-ups."

Gwen was already sitting down. She gave him a flashing grimace of sympathy. Even a goody-two-shoes like Gwen couldn't stand these events.

The next week dragged so much. It was only 43 minutes. But it felt like a week. The adults would throw information at each other, not caring about anything other than getting their voice heard. Occasionally Gwen would chirp up and contribute, just so it seemed that she was paying attention. But as time dragged on and the spaces between clock ticks grew ever longer, even she resigned to sitting back and living in her own mind.

Until Gwen's Mum brought the focus on the cousins.

"Well, Ben and Gwen, do you kids have any plans for the summer?" she said. "I hope you kids aren't going to sit around the house all the time, on those fancy, poisonous game consoles."

Awkwardly, Gwen said, "No Mum, I was actually thinking of-"

"Cause I remember," she interrupted flippantly. "When you kids loved to go outside and have adventures. You were wild kids!" This was met with nods and mutterings of approval from the other adults. Apart from Ben's Dad, who was shuffling uncomfortably in his seat. "Why did you guys stop?"

"Because you all stopped us from seeing Grandpa Max." Ben said. Deadpan. The adults stopped nodding. And murmuring. Gwen choked on her drink. Ben's Dad sighed.

"Come on, honey," shushed his Mum. "Let's go back to having fun – I'm going to bring tea out in a minutes, how about that?"

"No Mum," said Ben. "It's true. You stopped Grandpa from seeing us and never even told us why? How is that even fair?" He was met with silence. "Oh come on! Gwen, you can back me up here!"

Gwen's head was bowed in silence. She didn't even acknowledge his outburst.

"No, you know it too Gwen!" Ben was spiralling here, but he was too far gone to even think about backing down. "Five years ago, we were meant to have the summer of our lives. Seeing America. Having adventures, just like kids should. With Grandpa. And then you say we can't go and we are stuck In Bellwood. And for 5 years we haven't seen Grandpa Max. Or even left Bellwood. Jesus, I'm going insane."

Silence. Painful silence. Unending painful silence. Apart for the gurgling of Ben's Dad awkwardly gulping his drink.

"I'm going out." Ben stormed off, snatching his jacket off the couch. His Mum gestured to stop him but she knew it was futile. Gwen reddened with shame. The only sound as he left was the narcissistic wittering of Gwen's Mum.

"Some kids are so dramatic." She spat. No one answered.


End file.
